Railway-rail joint



(No Model.)

L. W. KENNEDY.

RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.

Patented Mar. 16.1897.

ams PETERS co, murauwa. w/sn PATENT 'OFFICE LEONARD WV. KENNEDY, OFOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- I-IALF TO PIIILLIP Gr.l GALIIN,

OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

RAILWAY-RAIL JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 578,882, dated March16, 1897.

Application filed June 29, 1896. Serial No. 697,319. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, LEONARD W. KENNEDY, a citizen of'the UnitedStates,residingatOak land, county of Alameda, State of California, haveinvented an Improvement in Railway- Rail Joints; and I hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to improvements in joints for the meeting ends ofrailway-rails, and a means for uniting and supporting them.

It consists in certa-in details of construction, which will be morefully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 represents a plan view of my improved joint. Fig. 2 is aperspective view of the joint-support and plate.

The object of myinvention is tobridge the space necessarily left betweenthe ends of the rails to accommodate expansion and to provide a meansfor connecting and supporting the meeting ends of railway-rails, andespecially to form a continuous line of travel upon which the flanges ofthe wheels pass over the joints, so as to prevent bruising and batteringthe latter and the wear which ordinarily takes place on account of theshocks caused by the wheels passing over the more or less open joints ofthe rails.

A A are the heads of the meeting ends of two rails, B the web, and C thebottom flanges upon which the rails rest upon the ties or othersupports.

In order to properly apply my improved joint, I cut away a portion ofthe head A of theA rails at points near their abutting ends. Thiscut-away portion removes so much of the head of the rail as to leave aspace which is essentially in the vertical plane of the side of the webB. This portion may be cutaway with beveled ends, as shown at E.

The joint-plate F lits into this beveled recess, the upper part of theplate being made of a corresponding thickness with the portion of therailehead which has been cut away and having the same beveled ends, sothat when laid into this recess it practically iills it up and makes thetop liush with the top of the rail.

The plate extends in each direction from the cut-away portion beneaththe head of the rail, which is thus supported upon these eX- tensions F.The lower portion F2 of the plate follows the contour of the lowerflange of the rail and extends over and beyond the edge of the flange,so as to also rest upon the tie or other support of the rail. Thisconstruction thus provides the beveled joint portion F, the supportingextension F upon which the heads of the rail rest on each side of thejoint, and the part F2, which is in turn supported upon the lower flangeof the rail, and when bolted to the rails the whole is united into avertically-supporting structure. The movement of the wheel across thesebeveled joints is jarless and smooth from end to end of the bevel, andthere is no perceptible blow or hammering when the wheel passes over it.The diagonal channels are cut in the form of a dovetailed bevel in'therails, the upper part of the flange F fitting into these openings, sothat a lock is formed which holds the joint together independent of anybolts or fastenings and prevents any shifting sidewise of the joint,while at the same time providing a continuous support across the meetingends of the rails and the inclined or beveled joint over which thewheels pass, as previously described.

That portion of the plate which fits against lthe web is madeessentially vertical or to coincide with the side of the web, and belowthis it is carried outwardly and downwardly, iitting over the loweranges C of the rails and itself resting upon the tie or support uponwhich the rail is carried, as previously described.

Y In the present case I have shown an ordinary ish-plate G upon theopposite side of the rail and bolted through to the one having theflanges in upward extension, as shown, thus binding the rails and platesfirmly together and forming a perfectly smooth and even diagonal orbeveled joint over which the wheels must pass.

The plate F or splice-bar is bolted through the webs of the rails andthe fish-plate G on the opposite side by means of the bolts and nutsshown, and even if these bolts are loosened or removed the dovetailedconnection of the plate and the rail-heads will prevent IOO either ofthem moving laterally so long as the rails remain approximately inContact at the abutting ends. The plate is introduced as the rails arelaid and cannot be removed Without lifting the rail. This would requirethat the spikesbe drawn.

The parts are mutually supporting and so interloeked that all parts mustmove together, and even if the bolts should come loose the parts couldnot separate or interfere With the Wheels of passing trains.

Having thus described 1ny invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A railway-rail joint consisting of rails having` the head cut away ashort distance each Way from the end upon one side, said cut-away poriions havin g inwardly-divergin g end Walls forming a dovetail recess.,and a plate adapted to fit the form of the side of the beve-l extensionprojecting up flush with the upper surface of the rails at one side ofthe web, and forming a lock to hold the sections ofthe rail againstlateral shifting of the joint. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set myhand.

LEONARD WV. KENNEDY. Vtnesses:

S. H. NoURsE, J Essie C. BRODIE.

